State education board questions Ryan Walters' math on cost of school lunches

State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters is defending his mandate that Oklahoma public schools provide free lunches to students, saying districts that do not think they have the money could face further scrutiny.

Walters made the comments during the state Board of Education meeting on Thursday, July 24, when multiple board members expressed skepticism about his claims, in a letter sent to parents and in subsequent forums, that school districts have extra money to pay for school lunches. He said “bureaucratic bloat” could be reduced to cover the costs.

Administrators of four large school districts – Deer Creek, Piedmont, Broken Arrow and Bixby – pushed back at the time, saying it was unclear how Walters arrived at the conclusion that they had additional funding to pay for the meals. On Thursday, state board members did the same, saying Walters’ estimate that it would take districts spending a combined $42 million more to cover the cost of lunches for every student wasn’t close to what they believe the actual figure to be.

Michael Tinney of Norman was the first to broach the subject, after Walters had brought it up during a report he provides to board members at the start of each monthly meeting. Tinney and Chris Van Denhende of Tulsa both questioned Walters’ math, with Van Denhende saying by his estimation, an additional $181 million will be needed.

Walters said his figure factored in federal grants that could cover some of schools' costs.

Board member Ryan Deatherage of Kingfisher said he’d made multiple attempts to reach Walters about the subject since Walters had made his mandate July 7 and said districts were sitting on money. Deatherage asked Walters, “Where can I point people to go see this?” to which Walters replied, “We’ll give you the link.”

Tinney pointed out districts already had approved their final budgets for the 2025-26 school year weeks before Walters made his demand. Tinney asked if those districts who said they couldn’t afford to pay for Walters’ mandate were “just making up those numbers.” He said a district superintendent with whom he’d spoken had said the state agency’s numbers on their budgets “are way off.”

“They’re gaslighting,” Walters responded, which resulted in loud laughter from people sitting in the public-seating area in the tiny board meeting room. “The woke peanut gallery doesn’t like that."

Walters suggested district audits might be in order, although every school district already conducts an independent audit every year, by law. Walters repeated his contention that districts had large amounts of carryover funds in their school nutrition accounts to spend. He also reiterated his belief that spending on administration is too high. State law caps such spending.

"The administration spending is going to get under control," Walters said. "These districts are going to look at their budgets. It’s unfortunate some districts didn’t budget that way. We have an entire staff here that will help them. They need to prioritize kids and not their administrative costs.”

He said hundreds of Oklahoma districts already provide free lunches, and that many more are working to do so.

Oklahoma State Board of Education member Michael Tinney questioned previous estimates of the cost of providing lunches to all students in the state.

After the meeting, Walters said of the districts who are pushing back: “We don't have a funding problem, we have a spending problem. We are, like I said, we're working with dozens and dozens of districts across the state that meet this goal.”

State Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, the chair of the Oklahoma House Education Committee, attended the meeting. After Walters made his mandate, Lowe said Walters did not “have the Constitutional or legal authority to direct how individual school districts allocate their budgets. … As such, there is no legal basis for the State Department of Education to retaliate through special sanctions over budget decisions that are entirely within districts' rights."

Asked about Lowe’s statement after the meeting, Walters said, “Rep. Lowe and I get along really well. I respect him and I respect his feedback on those things. But look, school districts have to submit their budgets to us, we have to approve those as part of their accreditation system, and we’re not going to approve any budgets that don’t cover school lunches.”

Officials from two districts Walters called out publicly in his letter to parents again questioned the numbers presented by Walters during Thursday’s meeting.

“I am curious where the numbers Superintendent Walters shared in (the July 23) meeting originated from, as they do not match our financial records or reporting,” Deer Creek School District Superintendent Jason Perez said. “I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with him and his team and have an actual conversation on the matter and hear his real-world suggestions on how we can sustainably feed all children.

“If we are serious about feeding all students, we need to be working collaboratively with district and state leaders to develop a sustainable plan. This would mean a recurring financial commitment at the state level as well as maximizing all federal funding opportunities for Oklahoma. I would be the first person to sign up for this initiative in an effort to remove hunger as a roadblock to learning for our students.”

Broken Arrow Public Schools spokeswoman Tara Thompson said the goal of providing all students with meals is laudable.

“Perhaps that is a topic for our legislators to consider during the next session,” Thompson said. “Educators would welcome a collaborative conversation on that topic, but at present, the fund accounting regulations that govern school finance require taxpayer dollars to be spent according to specific purposes. Spending funds outside those specific purposes would be illegal.

“Districts are audited annually by both the State Department of Education and independent third-party auditors, and in the case of our district, those audits can be accessed on our website, along with a number of other detailed financial reports that demonstrate our commitment to transparency.”